


In This Moment

by Thegirlwhowritesfics



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 08:01:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21115424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thegirlwhowritesfics/pseuds/Thegirlwhowritesfics
Summary: A/N: This is my first Bucky Barnes piece, please go easy on me. Set post Endgame. TW: Attempted sexual assault/violence.





	In This Moment

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This is my first Bucky Barnes piece, please go easy on me. Set post Endgame. TW: Attempted sexual assault/violence. 

A/N: This is my first Bucky Barnes piece, please go easy on me. Set post Endgame. TW: Attempted sexual assault/violence. 

Walking through Central Park, I’m not sure what I’m looking for, but anything is better than being trapped in my head, the air is crisp and the leaves are starting to change colour. Taking a seat on the nearest park bench I watch the families picnicking, playing with their children and that familiar ache wells up inside of me, threatening to burst open. 

Pulling out my watch I rub the cracked front, letting my mind momentary drift to Steve, letting the rage and hurt fill my bones, I never wanted to be here without him. I feel the rage reaching its peak and I push it back down, shoving my watch back in my pocket. I lean back on the bench, focusing on my breathing, trying to manage my anger when a dark figure catches my eye on the farside of the park. A man is lying in wait in the bushes, hidden by the thick shrubbery, waiting for his prey. 

His body arches and I see his target, a beautiful woman jogging towards him on the path, her black curly hair bundled up on her head and a pair of headphones resting over her ears. 

She doesn’t see it coming, he’s quick and silent, no one else in the park realises what has happened. The moment his fingers had looped around her arm and yanked her into the jungle of bushes I am on my feet, racing across the park. 

I can smell her fear, as I track them through the thick trees, I find them quickly, he is leaning over her, her shirt is torn and her dark skin is covered in mud, fear radiating off her. 

I reach out yanking the dirtbag off her, flinging him across the way, his body hits the tree with a deafening snap. 

“Don’t look” I growl at her, as I go over to him, my fingers feeling for a pulse, a mild pleasure coursing through me when I don’t find one. 

“Is he dead?” she stammers, I feel her body behind me. 

“Yes” I reply turning to face her, my body towering over her but she doesn’t flinch or cower. 

I take my phone out of my pocket firing off a quick message to Maria, and I take my jacket off wrapping it around the woman in front of me. 

Her eyes grow wide when they fall on my metal arm and she takes half a step back. 

“Help will be here in a minute” I mutter, looking around making sure her attacker didn’t have a friend. 

“Barnes?” Maria’s voice calls out as she walks towards us. 

“Through here” I say nodding towards the girl, Maria just nods and wraps her arm around her guiding her away as the rest of the team move in to clean up the body. 

Feeling the rage inside of me spilling over, I take off, desperate for an escape before my rage explodes and I have to clean that mess too. 

Two days later

I am still in a foul mood, pacing around my floor in the tower, my anger barely uncontrollable. I have done nothing but workout, and spar, no one will step into the ring, or engage in hand to hand with me. Not even one of Tony’s old fight stimulators could keep my mind occupied for long enough. 

A knock at my door pulls me out of my latest thought spiral, flinging it open I am surprised to see Pepper standing there. 

“You have a guest downstairs in the living room, I was on my way to the lab and I wanted to let you know” she says warmly. 

“Uhh, thanks” I reply confused, most people who visit me, just come straight to my room.

“Bucky, you might want to change” she calls over her shoulder as she heads towards the lab. Looking down at myself I realise I’m only wearing a pair of sweatpants, grabbing a t-shirt off the floor I quickly throw it on and head towards the elevator, hitting the second floor button. Stepping out onto the common room floor I look around puzzled. 

Then I see her, her hair is worn out, her black curls full and glossy as they flare over her shoulders. Her dark skin glowing in the sunlight streaming in from the windows. 

“Uh, hey” I say surprised to see her standing there. 

“Oh hi” she says turning around to see me “so umm, I’m Charlotte, we kinda met the other day in the park, you saved me from that guy when I was out jogging” she says her voice slightly high pitched as she rushes the words out. She closes the space between us and holds out her hand. 

“I remember” I say shaking her hand. 

“So anyway, I wanted to say thank you for saving me, but I wasn’t really sure how to say thank you, because well how do you say thank you for something like that?” she rambles on nervously “I was going to invite you out for dinner, but then I thought maybe I could cook for you? I’m a really good cook, I am actually a chef” she says proudly. 

“Charlotte, you don’t have to do that” I say cautiously remembering her face when she saw my arm. 

“But I want too” she says smiling up at me. I can see a splattering of freckles across her nose “and well now I know where you live so if you say no, I’m just going to cook you food and bring it here” she replies smugly. 

I choke back a laugh “well you’ve got me there” I say “when would you like to have dinner?” I ask. 

“7pm Tomorrow night?” she asks. 

“Sounds good” I reply. 

A smile break’s out across her face, her nose and eyes crinkle and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so charming, and for the first time in months I don’t feel that burning rage inside of me. 

“It's a date” she says “um, well I have to get to work, so yeah tomorrow night. This is my address” she says blushing handing me a post-it with her address and phone number on it. 

“See you tomorrow” she says heading to the lift and pressing the button, nervously bouncing on her feet until the door opens and as she steps inside she waves goodbye, a smile still spread across her face. 

“Please tell me how you managed to save the girl and get a date?” Sam says amazed stepping out of the kitchen, cradling a bowl of cereal in his hands. 

Rolling my eyes I flip him off as I head towards the stairs “oh come on man, you know I’m only messin with ya” he calls out after me but I let the door slam behind me as I race up to my room. 

I pace around my room, trying to figure out what I’ve gotten myself into. Flopping down on my bed I grab my phone sending a text to the only person I can think of to help in this situation. 

“A date?” a moment later her high pitched screech fills my room scaring me half to death. 

“Jesus Shuri” I exclaim bolting up as her face appears on my tv screen “how did you do that?” 

“Oh this” she says waving her hand dismissively “I just bypassed the system that's all, I do it sometimes to make sure my favourite old man is alive” 

“Ahhh” I stammer 

“Don’t worry, I haven’t seen you naked or anything. I just worry when you don’t return my messages” 

“Yeah okay, I will get better at that, also it's not a date” I tell her. 

“It’s definitely a date, and you should wear something black and take her flowers, and wash your hair” she tells me “oh I have to go, but call me afterwards and tell me everything yeah?” she says before disappearing. 

“Well that was creepy” I mutter to myself before opening my wardrobe and digging around for something to wear. 

The following night at 6:50pm sharp I walk up to the nice apartment complex that Charlotte gave me as her address and press the buzzer for her apartment. 

“Hello?” her voice sings through the intercom. 

“Hey its Bucky” I say clearing my throat suddenly nervous. 

“Oh hey, come on up, I’m on the second floor” she says as the door buzzes open. 

Heading up the stairs, I find her apartment and rap on the door “it's open” Charlotte calls out. 

Shaking my head at her lack of security I enter her apartment, I stop short entering her living room, every available surface is covered in plants. It's a tropical oasis, then it hits me, its silent, not a single noise from the city can be heard in her apartment. 

“Hey” Charlotte says stepping into a small hallway “down here” 

Heading down towards her I walk into her kitchen which is an open and bright room, with even more plants. 

“I’m really glad you made it” she says smiling at me “can I get you a drink?” 

“Uhh water is fine” I say “oh, these are for you” I tell her handing her the bouquet of lilies I got her “but now I am thinking I should have gotten you a plant” 

“It’s a bit much isn’t it?” she says her voice tinged with something I don’t recognise. 

“I think it’s pretty amazing actually, I like the silence,” I tell her. 

She just smiles and turning to the fridge, she pulls out a bottle of water handing it too me. 

“So I didn’t know what type of food you liked, so I’ve kind of gone overboard and made a mini buffet, plus I figured you must eat like a lot to look like you do,” she says, a blush glowing up her neck and cross her cheeks. “Not that you look bad, I didn’t mean it like that, I just meant you look really good and muscular, so that must take work and I will just shut up now” 

“Well you are right, I do eat a lot” I reply smiling trying to put her at ease “Is there anything I can help you do?” 

“Not at all, please sit down” she says gesturing to a vacant chair. 

“Where did you learn to cook?” I ask the kitchen filled with a sweet delicious smell of vanilla and cinnamon. 

“My grandparents, used to own a diner in the Bronx when I was a kid, so I spent a lot of time there after school and I learnt to cook from them” she says smiling fondly. 

“They must be really proud of you” I say. 

Laughing she opens the oven door “actually they hated that I became a chef, I was a lawyer, but it wasn’t fulfilling or making me happy, so I quit and went back to school to become a chef. My grandma died before she saw me graduate and my grandpop died the following year just after I graduated” pulling out some trays she places them on the counter, kicking the oven door closed. 

“I’m sorry for your loss” I say softly. 

“Its okay, it happened a few years ago, I miss them but I know they still loved me, what about you? Any family in the city?” she asks piling the plate high with something I can’t see. 

“Shit” Charlotte curses under her breath, turning to face me I can see the embarrassment across her face “so can we forget I just asked that? I seriously lack social skills, if that already wasn’t clear, it’s really easy to forget your like 100 years old” 

I flinch at the reminder “yeah, as long as you promise never to remind me how old I am again” I reply gruffly. 

“Sorry, I guess that’s kind of a sore spot huh?” she says softly, placing a plate piled high with pancakes in front of me, turning back to her kitchen counter she continues to bring over plates of food, bacon, eggs, steak, grilled vegetables, some sort of couscous salad, and a variety of other foods. 

Taking the seat next to me “okay, so breakfast food is my favourite food, along with dessert, I have a massive sweet tooth, so I tried to cover all the bases” she says smiling. 

“Well I love pancakes” I tell her taking a huge stack of the lightest fluffiest pancakes I’ve ever seen. 

A moan escapes my lips and Charlotte looks at me in surprise. 

It's my turn to blush “these are the best pancakes I think I’ve ever had” I say my mouth still full. 

Charlotte just smiles her nose crinkling again, I notice the tips of her ears have darkened. 

“So how have you been going since the other day?” I ask clearing my throat “Maria tells me it helps to talk about it” 

“Yeah” Charlotte replies fidgeting in her seat “Maria found me someone to talk too, I guess it's just a lot to take in, I just keep thinking, what if you weren’t there?” she says I can see tears forming in her eyes. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you” I say reaching for a napkin and handing it to her, panic welling in my chest. 

“Its okay, I sometimes just randomly cry, it's a lot you know?” she replies shrugging “how do you deal with it?” 

I sit there for a moment, letting her words circle in my head, trying to find the right words, unsure of how to tell her I’m broken, nothing inside of me works the way it should, her dark brown eyes glow up at me, amber swirls framed by the longest lashes I’ve ever seen. The desire to protect her is strong and I have no idea why. 

My phone rings, breaking the silence taking it out of my pocket I realise its Maria.

“Hey” I answer turning away from Charlotte. 

“We have a mission, back to the tower, we leave in 30 minutes” her voice curt. 

“Got it” I say disconnecting the call. 

“I’m sorry, I have to go, this was really lovely, thank you” I say to Charlotte standing up, before she can even react I am across her apartment floor and out the door, locking it behind me. The sound of the city hits me and my sense of calm leaves. 

Boarding the jet I buckle in next to Sam, opening up the file Maria sent me on my tablet reviewing the mission. 

“Hey man I’m sorry about earlier, I didn’t mean to give you such a hard time” Sam says nudging me with his shoulder.  
“Its cool” I reply sighing “I’m just, you know” shrugging I look at Sam. 

“Yeah, I know” he says looking down at the shield resting on his legs. 

“On to a much happier note, how was your date?” Sam asks wiggling his eyebrows at me. 

“It wasn’t a date and it was terrible, I made her cry then left” I say. 

Sam burst out laughing “seriously? Oh my god, you better get her a massive bunch of flowers to apologise if you ever want to see her again” 

“I don’t think she will want to see me again” I reply laughing, inside I feel cold and the reality setting in that Charlotte won’t ever want to see me again. 

Returning back from Italy, I’m surprised to see a small green leafy plant in my room, a card attached. 

‘Name her, water once a week and keep on the window, plants are a good listener when you’ve got problems and so am I - Charlotte’ 

Smiling I pick up the pot studying the small leaves, smiling I place her on the window next to my bed, tucking Charlotte's card under my pillow, and for the first time in a long time I fall into a dreamless sleep.


End file.
